Only Time
by Christine Ruud
Summary: Jaclyn Waters and Hawkeye Pierce. The two THOUGHT they had divorced fifteen years ago. When Hawkeye, Jaclyn, and their daughter Calla visit Maine, they discover some family secrets that just might change their life around.
1. Clumsiness

When I dropped my stack of papers at a medical convention in Sioux Falls, I knew it was a bad sign.

"Jaclyn, pick them up," said Dr. Matthews.

I nodded and grabbed the stack that I had so carefully alphabetized. It was a total mess.

We walked into the room where the convention was being held. It was filled with mostly men in suits and briefcases. A briefcase. Why didn't I think of that?

"I found our seats!" Dr. Matthews called from across the room, and I cringed. Sometimes it was hard being from a small town in northern South Dakota, where people could shout anything they wanted across the cafe and no one would care.

I went over to the doctor. "I have to organize these," I said as I put the papers down on a table. "Let's see, Aaronberg would be first, and then Carter--no, there's a Berg in here somewhere..."

"Jaclyn, there's no time now." Dr. Matthews shook his head. "You'll have to do it outside. Go and get me some coffee."

I rolled my eyes. _If he wanted a maid, why didn't he hire one? _I asked silently. But, then again, I was getting a free trip to Sioux Falls to hear about the new medicine.

After getting the doctor's coffee, I sat down and drummed my fingers on the table, waiting for the convention to begin.

"Good morning," a voice said from at the front of the room.

The voice sounded vaguely familiar. I was about to look up when I knocked the stack of papers on the floor.

"JACLYN," said Dr. Matthews. "Go in the library and organize those."

I nodded. Looking up to see who was speaking, I felt a lump settle in my throat.

The doctor who was at the microphone was none other than Hawkeye Pierce.

For the third time that day, I dropped the papers.

I heard Dr. Matthews let out a sigh of exasperation.

The look on Hawkeye's face let me know that he'd seen me, too.

It had been fifteen years since I had seen about my ex-husband. Now he had to show up at a medical convention and just HAPPEN to be the head of the whole thing.

"Uh, my name is Dr. Benjamin Pierce," said Hawkeye. "And I'm from...from Crabapple Cove, Maine."

I willed my feet to move, and they did. Not very well, because I ended up falling over a planter with a fern in it.

_A/N: I was planning to take a long, LONG break before writing the sequel, but I couldn't resist. I've been thinking about this story since the final chapter for Crash was posted. Enjoy, and your feedback is very much appreciated. _


	2. Trying to Forget

The most embarassing moment of my life switched from throwing up at a concert in eighth grade to falling flat on my face at the Sioux Falls medical conference the moment my high heel hit a woman in the face.

"I'm so sorry," I said as I picked myself off of the floor.

The woman handed me my shoe. "Watch where you're walking," she snapped.

After putting on my shoe, I carefully walked to the library and found an empty chair to organize the annoying papers.

Before getting anything done, I decided I needed to call home. I found a phone booth, inserted a dime, and waited for someone to pick up.

"Waters' mortuary, you stab 'em, we slab 'em."

"Calla!" I said with a mix of disbelief and humor. "Did your grandmother hear you say that?"

"CALLA SELENA WATERS! THAT IS NOT THE CORRECT WAY TO ANSWER A PHONE!"

"Judging from that, yeah," answered Calla. "Grandmother, it's just Mom," she called to Mother.

I rubbed my forehead. "How's everybody doing?"

"We're great," Calla said. "Michelle and Elliot got into a fight last night. Sleeping right next to their room is SO fun." She snorted. "How's the conference?"

"Well, I dropped my files three times, four if you count when I fell over the fern," I replied. "And I nearly killed a woman with my shoe."

My daughter laughed. "You're kidding."

"Nope."

We talked for a few more minutes, and finally I decided to get back to the papers.

**XXX**

It took an hour to organize the files that had only taken me twenty minutes to get together the first time. But when I was going through them the first time, I didn't have the distraction I had now:

Hawkeye Pierce.

_Why are you thinking about him? _I asked myself. _After all, you left Hawkeye. Remeber?_

The thing was, I did remember.

And I was trying to forget.


	3. Dinner with a Friend

_A/N: Sorry that the first two chapters were so short! I'll try to make them longer. _

The conference ended at four o'clock. I was hiding out in the library, reading a book on Romania, when I felt felt a hand on my shoulder.

"Yes?" I said, turning around.

"I thought I'd find you here."

It was Hawkeye.

"Good--good afternoon," I said, trying to hide the fact that my heart was going four hundred beats per minute.

"Are you all right?" Hawkeye asked. "I saw you fall over the planter."

"Great," I said, embarassed. "I think I made an impression on people."

"Jaclyn," Hawkeye began, but cut himself off.

There was an awkward silence.

"How did you know I'd be here?" I asked.

"Lucky guess."

I put my book on the shelf and grabbed my stack of papers. "I have to get these to Dr. Matthews," I said. "If I drop them again he'll kill me."

"Look, would you like to meet someplace for dinner?" Hawkeye asked. "I think we have a lot to talk about."

"Sure," I agreed.

"Would tonight work?"

I quickly thought over my schedule. "It'll be fine. There's a restaurant on the ground floor of the Harris-Parker Hotel. I could meet you there at eight tonight."

"I'll see you then."

Without another word, Hawkeye strode out of the library.

**XXX**

"WHY DON'T I HAVE ANY CLOTHES?"

It was six-thirty that night, and I was going crazy. Nothing in my suitcase seemed suitable for a date with an ex-husband. (I hadn't had any of those in my lifetime, however, so I gave myself some credit for not knowing what I was doing.)

I dug down deeper into my suitcase. There were some things from my trip to Minneapolis I'd taken a few weeks prior to the conference. The high school band had gone and I'd chaperoned, much to Calla's dismay. She thought her reputation as the only female percussionist would have gone down the tubes, but it didn't and she survived.

My fingers touched velvet and I sighed, relieved. I DID have something to wear to dinner.

I pulled out a dark blue, knee-length dress. Why I brought that on the band trip, I don't know, but I was glad it was still in my bag.

**XXX**

I arrived at the restaurant at five to eight. Hawkeye was waiting by the bar.

"Hi," I said.

He grinned. "You look nice."

"Thanks. So do you," I said a a waiter seated us.

"Cute place." Hawkeye looked around. "Very..."

"Midwest?" I suggested.

"Yeah." He nodded.

There were several seconds of silence.

"Look," I said, "not talking about this is like not mentioning an elephant sitting in the middle of the table. I want you to meet Calla."

"You--you named her..." Hawkeye trailed off.

"After your mother," I told him.

He shook his head. "I don't believe it."

"Believe it," I said."I know you have a lot to do in Maine, but could you come to Stockton? I'd love it."

"Your mother would kill me," said Hawkeye. "She thinks I'm a menace to her precious daughter."

I laughed. "My mother and I have had more...differences than I'd like to admit. It seems like the only time we speak is when we get into an argument."

"I have a feeling I'm the cause for that."

"No." I rolled my eyes in half-amusement. "She's tried to fix me up with two dozen men but they all say I'm too distant."

"I think I'm the cause for that, too," said Hawkeye softly.

"What may I get for you tonight?" The waiter reappeared.

We both ordered the steak dinner and changed the topic of conversation to the medical conference.


	4. The Note

On the last day of the medical conference, I was in my hotel room, trying to writea letter to Hawkeye.

_Dear Hawkeye,_

_You've done a wonderful job chairing the conference. _

No.

_Dear Hawkeye,_

_I don't believe we're almost done with the medical conference! _

It sounded like something a seventh grader would write to her best friend at the end of a school year.

_Dear Hawkeye,_

_This letter is being written in my hotel room. It's almost seven in the morning._

Boring.

I was about to begin the fourth draft of the letter that would probably never see the light of day when my phone rang.

"Hello?"

"The conference starts in forty-five minutes. "

"Thank you, Dr. Matthews."

He did that EVERY MORNING, without fail.

After hanging up, I commanded myself to write.

_Dear Ben,_

_I've tried to start this letter three times, but I think that my writing is being controlled by a twelve-year-old._

_There's no easy way to get into this, but then, in our situation, nothingis. _

_I want you to come to Stockton and meet Calla. She's your daughter, through and through.Calla knows almost nothing about her father. I've been putting off telling her, but now I know that I have to. Seeing you here has brought back a lot of memories that I have to face, good or bad. And, in my opinion, there are a lot of good ones. _

_Find me after the conference. If you don't want to come and face my horrifying family, I'll understand. (Half the time I don't want to face them myself.)_

And then I got stuck. How would a letter of that nature be signed? Love? Sincerely? From? Yours truly?

Finally,I scrawled the final line.

_--Jaclyn_

**XXX**

_A/N: Sorry about the long time between updates. I've had a bit of writer's block. But I'm back!_


	5. The Ending of the First Meeting

"Jaclyn! Over here!"

I turned around to see Hawkeye. I'd delivered the note before the conference (slipped it under his door--how sophisticated).

"Well?" I asked.

"There's a problem," said Hawkeye.

"What is it?" I said. "If you don't feel comfortable coming, I'll understand. Half the time I don't even-"

"I can't read a map," he said. "You'll have to give me detailed instructions on how to get to Stockton, or else I'll probably end up in Canada."

"You'll come?" I breathed.

"Only if you keep that mother of yours on a chain."

I burst out laughing. "There is nothing I would like more."

**XXX**

The next day, Dr. Matthews and I left Sioux Falls. Before leaving, I caught up with Hawkeye.

"You want detailed dirctions now or later?" I asked.

"Later," answered Hawkeye. "Are you going to tell Calla?"

I bit my lip. "I should, shouldn't I?" It was more of a statement than a question.

"Jac, if I just waltz into her life with no warning..."

"I'll tell her," I said. "And, when I do, I'll write to-"

"JACLYN! I'M LEAVING!"

That, needless to say, was Dr. Matthews.

"It's been--I'm glad I--it's been nice seeing you again." I could hardly put a sentence together, for some strange reason.

"Yeah." He nodded. "Well."

There was a silence, and Hawkeye burst out laughing. "This is crazy. We're two reasonable adults who don't know how to say goodbye to each other."

I let out a sigh of relief. "How about a handshake?"

And that's how we ended the meeting in Sioux Falls.


	6. Home Again

On my first night home in Stockton, I was reading the newspaper after dinner when the phone rang.

"I'll get it!" Calla shouted.

"Of course you will," Elliot said, chuckling. "It might be _Jeremy_."

"Hello, Calla Waters speaking," Calla said in a breathy voice. "Oh. Hi, Marian...yeah, she's right here. GRANDMA, PHONE!"

Mother shook her head as she went into the dining room to talk to Marian Englebretson about...well, I don't exactly know what they were talking about.

"Did you see anyone you knew at the conference?" Dad asked.

"I did," I said. "An old friend. From Korea."

As soon as I said it, I knew I shouldn't have. My family is notorious for not letting anybody have secrets.

Dad looked about ready to fire off a round of questions when Calla flopped into a chair. "It wasn't Jeremy," she said.

"Who is Jeremy?" I asked.

"Oh, Mom, he's so sweet," Calla said. "We worked together in biology."

"Wonderful. You can have frog legs at your wedding," said Elliot. "You and Jeremy would have lovingly dissected them together..."

"Uncle Elliot!" cried Calla. She tossed a couch pillow at him.

"Elliot," Michelle said, tucking a strand of blond hair behind her ear, "leave the poor child alone."

"I am not a poor child!" Calla said. "Although I could use some extra money."

"The Ericksons are selling their house," I said, looking up from the paper.

"Really?" Dad asked. He peered at the paper over my shoulder. "They've lived there for twenty years."

I flipped to the "Stockton Notes" section of the paper and began to read. " 'John and Myrtle Lundin had dinner with the Marge and Alvin Erickson'--no, and who cares? 'Marlys Larson and Helga Larsen visited the Milbrook Home for the Aged', no, that's not it...found it. 'After a long debate period, Alvin and I have decided that we're going to sell our home and move into Milbrook. It'll be much closer to the clinic for Alvin's treatments. We'll certainly miss Stockton and all you wonderful citizens that make it such a great place. Often, we're reminded of the little town on television called Mayberry'...yadda yadda yadda."

"Well," my father said. "They'll be missed."

"How's Marge going to keep writing the Notes?" Calla asked. "Everyone around here's too cheap to drive to Milbrook."

"Calla," Dad said.

"Well, they are! Remember when they didn't even want to drive down to the cafe for the Senior Monthly Meetings? They wanted to save gas."

Mother strode back into the living room. "Jaclyn, Marian wants you to sing the solo in _Amazing Grace_ next Sunday."

"You didn't tell her I would!" I said.

"Jaclyn." Mother looked at me strangely. "If you don't take the solo, Diane Barthlow will, and you know she strains to hit anything above a B." She clucked her tounge. "You WILL sing."

"All right, all right, all right." I stood up. "I'm going to go to bed."

**XXX**

That night, I was snoring (I know this, because Calla once taped me while I was sleeping) when my darling daughter flipped on the light.

"Cawhumhaa," I moaned.

"Mom," said Calla, who seemed amazingly wide-awake. "I was just reading the paper."

"WHY did you wake me up at three-thirty A.M. to tell me THAT?"

"Because," she said, "the Erickson's house is on the market. Right now. And it's cheap."

"It shouldbe. It's a stupid stinking shack that's going to fall apart any minute."

"No it's not! I've been in there and it's really cool. See, you come in and then there's the living room, and there's a kitchen with a bar and-"

I sat up. "Get to the point, please. Preferably in the next five seconds."

"You can afford the house," said Calla. "I know you've wanted to get out of here for a really long time. This is the chance."She handed the real estate section to me.

The price of the house wasn't bad.

Actually it was very good.

And suddenly, I had a new dilemna to deal with.


	7. The Discussions

"Calla." I knocked on the door to my daughter's room.

"Enter!" she shouted.

I opened the door and entered the very small room that used to be a kitchen. (Our house was built originally so two families could live in it. Calla's room had a sink in it, which Dad had offered to take out but she refused. Why, no one knows.)

Calla set down her hairbrush. "Do you know that Lorraine Billingsly said that you weren't supposed to brush your hair every day?" she asked. "She said it ruins the follicle. Not that I believe her. She uses peroxide to get her hair disgustingly blonde."

_Oh boy_, I thought. _She's in rant mode. _

"And then today she annoyed me about working with her for the science competition," Calla continued. "I told her I'd tell her tomorrow. Mom, I won't work with her. She's-"

"I want to talk to you about your father."

She turned pale and closed her eyes for a moment. When she opened them, they were blazing. "There is nothing to talk about. He's estranged," she said coldly. "I have no desire to know about him."

I rubbed my temples.

"He LEFT us," Calla said. "You were pregnant, and _poof_! Gone. Forever."

I looked at her in disbelief. "Where did you come up with THAT?"

"Grandma," said Calla. "When you were gone, she decided to tell me about how I came to be."

"What did she tell you?" I demanded.

"That after the war, my father sent you a letter saying that he wanted a divorce. You refused, but he insisted. He said that he never wanted to see me." Calla's voice broke. "Do you know how awful that made me feel? At least YOU could have told me, instead of waiting for Grandma to!"

I stood up. "Your grandmother is WRONG. I'll be right back."

As I stormed down the stairs, my hands shook with anger. My mother, picky as she is, had gone too far.

WAY too far.

"Mother!" I shouted.

"Jaclyn, you don't have to holler," said Mother as she walked out of the study.

"I just got done talking with Calla." I crossed my arms. "Tell me exactly what you told her about Hawkeye."

Mother gave me an innocent look. "I didn't tell her anything."

"YES YOU DID!" I took a step forward. "You told her that her father left us, when you know damn well he didn't. I told you about what had happened, and I thought you could comprehend what had happened!"

Mother looked truly stunned. Before she could say anything, Iwent over to the phone and picked it up.

"I've had it," I said.

My dilemnahad suddenly disappeared, and I knew exactly what I had to do.

**XXX**

"So...he's...you...Korea...aigh. That's the last time I think that Mr. Troey's lecturing on the KoreanWar is boring."

It was ten-thirty at night, and I had finished telling Calla about the Korean War "experience".

"And once again, I apologize for your grandmother," I said."I had a...discussion with her."

"I heard your 'discussion'," Calla said. "Who'd you call on the phone?"

"Joan Aesoph," I told her.

"Isn't she the broker for the Erickson's house?" asked Calla.

I nodded. "Tell me...how would you feel about moving?"

"MOVING?" she shrieked, jumping off her bed and almost catapaulting into the sink. "Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes!"

"I'm glad you like the idea..."My face broke out into a grin. "because we are."

She let out a scream of joy so loud that I swear that Hawkeye heard her in Maine.

_A/N: The ME from MD shows up in the next chapter! I promise! _


	8. Hawkeye Comes to Stockton

Friday, May 12, made me nervous for one simple reason.

Hawkeye Pierce was coming to Stockton. MY Stockton. And he would be staying in my mother and father's house.

Nervous doesn't even begin to describe it.

I had called Hawkeye after talking with Calla. We ran up a pretty big phone bill (needless to say, Mother almost had a heart attack when she saw it) and arranged a visit.

That was the easy part, compared to what five A.M. on the day of Hawk's arrival brought.

"Why am I up so earlyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy?" Calla moaned. "I wanna sleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep..." She dropped her head on the kitchen table, making Dad's coffee fly out of his cup.

"We have to clean," Mother said.

"Couldn't that wonderful blessing that's been forced upon us happen AFTER THE SUN IS UP?"

Mother shot her a piercing look. "Calla, this is your...father visiting." (She winced.) "Do you want to make a good impression on him?"

She grunted positively.

"Well, then." Mother stood up. "Jaclyn, I want you and Calla to clean the bedrooms. Elliot, the bathrooms. Your father and I will clean the downstairs, and Michelle, tidy up the front porch."

I saluted. "Yes, ma'am."

Mother shook her head, but I thought I saw a trace of a smile on her face.

As Calla and I walked upstairs, I tried to remember how we had rearranged the bedrooms. Elliot and Michelle were sleeping in my room, Calla and I were in her room (I got the joy of sleeping on a cot from 1924), Hawkeye would be in Elliot's room, and my parents would stay where they were.

"I'll clean my room," Calla said. "If I don't come out in half an hour, don't wake me." She disappeared into her room/kitchen.

I rolled my eyes and walked into Elliot and Michelle's room. The covers were in a huge pile (neither my brother nor his bride is a fan of bed making), and there were books lying all over.

"This is nice," I said as I lifted up a piece of half-eaten toast. "Very nice. Elliot!" I yelled downstairs. "You're a slob!"

"Huh?" he called.

"Never mind!"

**XXX**

At eight o'clock, our house was clean.

"That was fun," Calla said, her voice dripping with sarcasm. "Now, if you don't mind, I am going to sleep. Possibly forever."

I stood up. "I'm going to go do some gardening."

Outside, we have a pretty decent-sized yard. Calla calls it "the forest", and we pity whoever gets to mow it in the summer.

Calla.

Hawkeye.

They seemed so much alike. The sarcastic comments...their hatred of mornings...the ranting...their eyes.

It was funny, after fifteen years, I remembered every detail of Hawkeye's eyes. They seemed to see right through you, into your soul.

_Into your soul? _I repeated mentally. _Get with it, Waters. _(I swear, sometimes my mind makes me want trade it in for a new model.)

I was re-planting some begonias and cursing myself for wearing a white sweater (that now had some spots of brown, thanks to the dirt) when I heard a car horn honk.

A blue Chevy pulled into our driveway.

I stood up and brushed my faded jeans off. As the door opened, I scratched my nose and got mud all over my face.

And of course, the person who emerged from the Chevy was Hawkeye.

I felt completely ridiculous.

"Jaclyn!" Hawkeye said. When he got a good glimpse of me, he burst out laughing.

"It's not funny!" I cried, but began laughing too.

Hawkeye tossed me a handkerchief. "Here."

I wiped off my face. When I had made sure that I was mud-free, I asked, "How was your trip?"

"Interesting. How do you manage your roads?"

"Very poorly." I took one of Hawkeye's suitcases. "You don't have many gravel roads in Maine?"

"We have gravel roads, but are I don't think these things you have would be qualified as 'roads'."

I burst out laughing. "Don't let Mother hear you say that. She's very protective of South Dakota."

Before I opened the door to the house, I stopped. "Hawk, wait out here. I'm going to get Calla."

"If she's anything like me, she must be a wonderful human being."

I rolled my eyes. "I'll be right back."

_A/N: Evil place to end the chapter! More reviewsfaster updates! (Hintie-hintie.)_


	9. Experience the Harmony Homemakers

When I got inside the house, Calla was leaning over the banister, reciting the balcony scene from _Romeo and Juliet. _That was normal.

What she was wearing was not.

"You like?" Calla asked, spinning around. She was wearing black lace-up boots (that had belonged to Mother in 1921), very, very, VERY short shorts (that had NOT belonged to Mother in 1921), and my gold and black robe from Korea.

"Calla." I shook my head. "What am I going to do with you?"

She clomped down the stairs. "You're going to take me outside to meet my father."

"How'd you know he was here?

"No one in this family owns any type of Chevy, if you don't count the '55 model Dad says will work 'any day now'." She jumped off the final step and pranced out into the porch. I followed, shaking my head.

Calla flung open the door. Hawkeye was trying to put back up our "Velkommen" sign by banging a nail into it with a stick.

"It, uh, fell out," he said sheepishly.

"It does every day," Calla said. "Grandma nearly went ballistic when I slammed the door yesterday."

"Well." I wrung my hands. "Calla, this is Hawkeye. Hawkeye, Calla."

"Pleased to meet you, my fair lady," Hawkeye said in a fake British accent.

"Chaaaaaaaaaahmed." She curtsied.

"All right, now that you have the sarcasm out of the way..." I prompted.

There was silence as the two sized each other up. Calla was only three inches shorter than Hawkeye.

"It's true," Calla said. "We do look alike."

Hawkeye nodded. "You really are my daughter."

"You doubted?"

And, to my absolute delight, they hugged.

I sat down on the steps and took a deep breath. My daughter and my husband were finally together.

Husband?

_Ex_-husband.

"Well," said Hawkeye, "let's go meet Julia Waters."

I opened the door, and the three of us filed inside.

Mother was standing by the television set, dusting. (Dusting _what_, I don't know. We had cleaned the place, as Hawkeye would say, "within an inch of its life.")

"Hello," said Mother. She eyed Hawkeye. "You must be Benjamin."

"If I'm not, I don't know who is."

"I want you to know I do not approve of this," Mother said. "You've just come here to disturb our life."

"It wasn't my idea," Hawkeye said through gritted teeth. "And you don't have to like it."

Eyes widening,Mother turned to me. "This was YOUR idea?"

"Yes it was," I told her.

"Jaclyn Waters, you are ruining your life."

And with that, she stormed out of the living room.

"What got shoved up her-" Callastarted to say, but stopped as Dad came into the room.

"Great," Hawkeye whispered to me. "I'm not going to come out of here with my head attached. You can put 'King Louis' on my tombstone. Wanna be Marie Antoinette?"

"Hawkeye!" I jabbed him in the ribs.

"So this is Hawkeye," Dad said. "Pleased to meet you. I'm Bernard Walters."

Dad extended his hand, and Hawkeye shook it.

Just as Dad opened his mouth to say something, the door to the porch opened and in came...

Stockton's Harmony Homemakers Club.

Myrtle Lundin, Marlys Larson, Helga Larsen, Kath Nelson, Marge Erickson,Ida Lundquist, Emma Finch, and Alice Halquist bustled in.

"Jaclyn, how are you doing today?" Marge asked.

"Very well," I said uncomfortably as I shoved Calla behind my back. If the Harmony Homemakers saw what she was wearing, they would have multiple heart failures in our living room.

"And who is this handsome young man?" Myrtle inquired, looking at Hawkeye.

"Ben Pierce," he replied.

"Ohhhhhhhhhhhhh," they said collectively, and the room's tone seemed to completely change.

"We'd better go see how Julie is doing."

"Did you bring the lemon cake recipe, Marlys?"

"Yes, that was _wonderful _when you made it for Tabor's potluck."

"Did you see what Bethene was _wearing_ this Sunday?"

In three seconds, they'd cleared out to the kitchen, and I let Calla loose.

"What did they think I was going to do, get down on one knee and propose?" asked Hawkeye as he burst out laughing.

"No one knows what happens in the Harmony Homemaker's minds," Calla intoned. "It's going to be what my science competition project is about."

_A/N: Hardly any of the Harmony Homemaker bits are made up._

_I'm serious._


	10. Dinner and a Swan

That night at dinner, Hawkeye, Calla, and I went up to the cafe.

"This has been a very interesting day," I said as I cut my steak.

"I'm quite glad we got away from the Harmony Homemakers," said Calla. "If I wouldn't have a record player in my room, I would go insane."

"I never thought I would have a daughter who would like classical music," Hawkeye said. "It was like Charles's record player had come back to haunt me."

"Except Charles didn't play his music at such an..._interesting _speed," I pointed out. "Michelle's records will never be the same."

"Hey, yeah, am I ever going to meet the 4077th people?" asked Calla.

I looked at Hawkeye. "I've lost touch of most of them."

"I visited B.J. in California last summer," said Hawkeye, "and we had a reunion in Missouri in 1963. Margaret tried to reach you, but all the letters came back marked 'return to sender'."

"That was the year that I visited Italy," I said. South Dakota was getting to me, so Calla and I left during the summer. "I stayed for a few months, so that was probably why she couldn't reach me. Mother probably sent the letters back. She has a thing about mail from unknown people. How was everyone?"

"They're great," Hawkeye answered. "Charles got married to a woman named Katherine, and they have two kids named Arnie and Theresa. Theresa's an exact copy of her father. I thought that her eyes would fall out of her sockets when she saw the cows."

I chuckled. "And Margaret?"

Hawkeye nodded and took a drink of water. "She's fine."

I waited for him to elaborate, but he didn't. "What about Klinger?"

"Five kids--Mark, Jake, Katra, Rianna, and Nancy."

"Katra?" I repeated.

"He says it's an old Lebanese name," said Hawkeye.

"What about Peg and B.J.?" I asked.

"They adopted a little girl from Korea named Rose."

"Oh, that's so sweet." I remembered how B.J. had gotten attached to a Korean family just before I left.

I was going to ask about Colonel Potter when the McGilicuttys and their four screaming children entered, causing any normal conversation impossible.

**XXX**

We got home at ten-thirty that night, because Calla had insisted on watching the MiGilicuttys get into a fight. She almost got hit in the head with some flying chicken nuggets, and Hawkeye and I had to restrain her from killing the three-year-old.

"I. Hate. Children," she ennunciated as we went into the house. "Hate. Hate. Hate. With a vengeance."

Hawkeye was laughing so hard he had to sit down on a chair. "When you...you got up and started over to that little kid...I thought his eyes would...pop out of his sockets!"

"I wouldhave shoved the chicken nugget up his nose if you hadn't stopped me. And by the way, Grandma's gonna kill you. She's worked on that swan for a month."

Hawkeye leaped up. "Oops." He gingerly lifted up Mother's needlepoint.

That was all it took for us to start laughing again.

"Okay, shh, shh," I hissed. "We have to be quiet or Mother will come down here and we'll get a lecture on how to entertain houseguests properly."

I shoved the two of them upstairs and gave Hawkeye a quick tour.

"This is my parents' room--be quiet, they wake up if you breathe too loudly--, this is the bathroom, here's my room with Elliot and Michelle sleeping in it--don't worry about waking them up, they could sleep through a tornado--, here's the bathroom, Calla's room, don't trip over the cot--and here's your room."

I gasped for breath. "Got all that?'

Hawkeye nodded.

"Well," I said. "Good night, sleep tight. Don't let Elliot's bread crumbs bite."

"I thought you changed the sheets," said Calla.

"They lurk."

As Hawkeye went into his room, I sat down on the cot and sighed.

"Mom?" Calla asked. "Are you all right?"

"Oh, me? I'm fine." I forced a smile. "Just fine."


	11. On A Cold, Windy Night

_A/N: I'm so happy! "Crash" was just posted on Best Care Anywhere. Yaay, my writing's in two places now! It's titled "Together (?)" on there, simply because the title "Crash" didn't come into my mind until this arrived on _

_And now, on with the continuing saga..._

I learned something.

Calla's room is freezing cold.

"Calla," I hissed.

"Hrmmmmmmmm?" she moaned.

"Calla!" I whispered, a little louder.

"What?" She jumped.

"I'm going to find somewhere else to sleep," I said.

"You wake me up at two A.M. to tell me THAT?" she demanded. "Go. Sleep. Shoo."

I grabbed my blanket and made my way into MY bedroom, where Elliot was snoring. (All right, I may snore, but at least I'm not THAT loud.)

No way could I sleep in a room filled with that much racket.

Mother and Father's room, while perhaps warmer, had very little room for me, unless I slept under the bed.

And Hawkeye's room was...well, it was out. Plain and simple.

So, I went downstairs and flopped onto the couch, not bothering to turn on a light.

Well, I THOUGHT it was onto the couch.

"Augh!" I screamed, as I leaped up. A human figure had been laying on the couch--obviously a human figure that DID NOT SNORE.

A very familiar voice began to laugh.

"Hawkeye!" I shouted, but quickly lowered my voice. Why are you down here?"

"I couldn't sleep," he said. "You must have had some strong wind, because the lights went out." As I tried to flick on a lamp, I discovered he was right.

"But why were you down here in the first place?"

"I had to use the latrine."

I shook my head. "There's a bathroom upstairs."

"What if your mother was in there?"

I found my way over to an armchair. "It's freezing in Calla's room."

"It's nice and warm over here," Hawkeye said suggestively.

"Thanks, but I have a blanket."

There was some uncomfortable silence.

"All right, if you're not going to say it, I am," Hawkeye said finally. "Now that we're under the same roof-"

"For a week," I put in.

"For a week, we're going to have to talk about the divorce sometime," he continued. "Divorce. Who would ever believe that I, the great Casanova of the 4077th would be married and divorced in less than a year?"

"If we had stayed together, I wonder what we'd be doing right now," I mused. As Hawkeye began to chuckle, I groaned. "Get your mind out of the gutter."

"Sorry, but it's taken up permanent residence there."

I stood up. "And I am going to take permanent residence in a chair as far away from you as I can possibly get," I said. "Goodnight, Captain Pierce."

"Goodnight, Captain Waters."

_A/N: Pretty short chapter, butI wanted to work this in somehow. It's gone through half a dozen rewrites. Unlike "Crash," I know where this is going. _


	12. On A Cold, Windy Morning

The next morning I woke up at six-thirty to the phone ringing.

"Whoever calls before nine should be hung," I groaned as I got up from my chair.

I grabbed the phone. "Hello?" I said, cringing as my breath bounced back at me. A toothbrush was needed--badly.

"This is Grace Belkin from the hospital in Crabapple Cove. Is this the home of Jaclyn Waters?" a woman with a New York accent asked.

"Yes it is," I said.

"And you have a Hawkeye Pierce residing with you?"

"For a short time," I answered. What was this, a survey?

"May I speak to him, please?"

"I'm sorry, but he's sleeping."

"It's about his father." The woman blew her nose. "See...well, it would be I could tell him."

"You could call back in a few hours," I suggested. Waking Hawkeye was NOT on my list of "Top 10 Things I Can't Wait to Do In The Morning".

"Look, ma'am, it took me twenty minutes to get this call through. With all the wind you North Dakotans are experiencing, I probably won't be able to get through until 1972!" the woman said.

Ignoring her mix-up of states, I sighed. "Give me the message."

"Are you a relative?"

"I'm close enough!" I growled.

"His father had a heart attack yesterday morning and died last night," she said. "You can see how I wanted to be the one to tell Hawkeye."

I sat down in a chair, stunned. "Maybe I should wake him up," I said, but it was three seconds too late. The phone line turned to static.

To quote Calla:

_Oh crap._

I willed myself to stand up and go into the living room.

"Hawkeye," I whispered shakily. "Hawk. Hawkeye. BEN. Get up."

Without opening his eyes, he wrapped his arms around me and pulled me on top of him. I shrieked.

"If you don't let me go, my family will kill you, and we'll feed you to the pigeons!"

"Ahem."

I felt my muscles go stiff. That arresting tone could only belong to one person.

Mother.

"Mr. Pierce, will you let go of my daughter?" she asked.

Hawkeye had enough sense to, and I leaped up.

She shook her head and bustled out to the kitchen.

"Now is it just me, or do you think that she actually ENJOYS that you're here?" I asked.

"Well, who wouldn't? A charming, attractive bachelor?" Hawkeye grinned. "Well, that was dessert. Now how about breakfast?"

"Uhhhh." I pushed my hair back. "I need to talk to you. Out in the porch."

"Let's hope the conversation has a parental warning on it."

"Let's not."

I opened the door to our porch, and we sat down on the piano bench.

"While you were sleeping, I...I got a phone call," I said. "It was from a woman named Grace Belkin."

He groaned. "She works with Dad, and has this weird schoolgirl crush on me. One night she called our house every hour when I had a cold to make sure that I hadn't died. On the eighth time, Dad said that I had and she came over to see if--what's wrong?"

"Hawk...your dad had a heart attack and he...he passed away last night," I said softly.

This was the first time I had seen Hawkeye Pierce cry.


	13. Preparing For Maine

_A/N: I would like to dedicate this story to one of my dear friends who recently lost her father. _

Grace Belkin called later that day, and Hawkeye answered. I had told everyone in my family what had happened, and they agreed not to gripe about phone usage. (At least for the day.)

"Mom?" asked Calla. "Are we going to the funeral?"

"He just died yesterday," I said. "There aren't even funeral arrangements yet."

"We should go. Heis...WAS my grandfather, after all."

"That's true, he is," I realized. Before Calla had said that, I had never thought of Hawkeye's family as Calla's relatives. She had great-aunts and -uncles, and cousins, and maybe even a great-grandparent or two.

"Look, Grace, I can't just snap my fingers and fly out there!" Hawkeye shouted. "Now will you get off my case?"

"Okay, let's go upstairs," I said to Calla. Elliot, Michelle, and Dad had went to Milbrook, and Mother was off at Kath's house baking dog treats (or something like that).

Hawkeye motioned for us to wait. "Yeah, bye." He hung up the phone. "Look, I'm not going to be able to go there alone. I've never had to plan a funeral before."

"You want us to come?" asked Calla.

"I NEED you to come."

"Sure," I said softly.

**XXX**

"You're going with a strange man to his father's funeral?" Mother demanded.

"He's not a strange man," I protested. "He's my ex-husband."

"You're going to a funeral with your ex-husband!"

I rolled my eyes. "Mother, your listening skills are improving."

She snorted. "I do not approve of this."

"You don't have to."

**XXX**

My mother could disapprove as much as she wanted to.

We were going to Maine.

"No Mrs. Linga for a week!" Calla crowed as she threw a black Western shirt into her green and gold suitcase. "What a shame. I'll miss five days of adverbs."

It was eight-thirty on the night before we would leave for Crabapple Cove. Calla had put off packing, and was cramming things into her suitcase. (That's my daughter, always prepared.)

"What are you wearing for the funeral?" I asked.

"Clothes," she replied.

I groaned.

"What do you think about my black flared skirt and light green blouse?" she asked. "If--oh crap, is that in the laundry?"

She raced out of the room and downstairs.

"Is she still packing?" asked Hawkeye. He poked his head out of Elliot and Michelle's room.

"So far all she has is two pairs of jeans, a brown skirt, black top, and one pair of pajamas," I answered. "Oh, and a pair of white high heels."

Hawkeye came into the room. "I can't believe you're coming with. Crabapple Cove will go off its rocker."

"If it's anything like Stockton it will," I agreed.

"Found it!" Calla shouted triumphantly as she entered the room. "Wait...did I wear this yesterday?"

Life with Calla is always interesting.


	14. Welcome, Again

"I hate plaaaaaaaaaaaaanes."

"Look," Calla said under her breath as Flight 54 took off, "if this woman keeps throwing up, I'm going to parachute out and hitchhike to Maine."

We were settled in for the long flight to Iltai. Hawkeye was by the window, looking claustrophobic.

"Do you feel like everyone's sucking the oxygen out of here?" asked Hawkeye. "I mean, there's only enough for so many people." He turned around. "Let's all take in small breaths...in...out. In...out."

"Hawk, there's plenty of air," I said.

Calla turned a little pale. "You sound like you aren't sure about that."

**XXX**

We did NOT run out of air, and reached Iltai in a few hours. Grace Belkin was waiting to drive us to the Cove.

"Hawkeye! Hawkeye! HAWK-EYEEEEEEEEEEEE!"

Hawkeye gritted his teeth. "Coming, Grace."

Grace turned out to be a petite woman, with dark brown wiry hair and a red sweater. Her face dropped as she saw Calla and me. "Hawkie, who are your friends?"

"Hawkie?" I repeated.

"They're Russian spies," said Hawkeye. "This is Irina, and this is Maritzie. Say guuten haieger, girls."

"Guuten haieger," Calla and I said in unison.

Grace's eyes grew wide. "Wow," she breathed.

(Obviously this woman hadn't been out too much in the world.)

"Rada," Calla said to me. "Kilize icrima dijoupn."

Grace pulled Hawkeye closer to her. "Are they going to hurt us?"

Hawkeye put his hands on our heads. "Close operation."

"Hi," Calla said. "I'm Calla Waters."

She extended her hand, and Grace recoiled. "Don't come near me, you psychotic Russian!"

"Watch yourself," Hawkeye warned. "They have ways."

We followed Grace to her car,a green pickup with some large dents. She slid in the driver's side door.

"Oh," she said, noticing us. "I don't think they'll be room for you in here."

"Really?" Calla imitated her breathy tone.

"Yes." Grace's girly-girl voice dropped. "So if you'll get in the back."

As it turned out, Hawkeye, Calla, and I rode in the back of the pickup, with Grace sulking in the front. She made an attempt to roll down her window and shout something to Hawkeye, but I think a bug flew down her throat.

The drive took forty minutes, but I think I fell asleep for over half of it. The next thing I knew, Calla was shaking my shoulders and I moaned.

"Go awaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay, it's morning."

With the help of Hawkeye, my daughter and...male companion carried me off the truck.

"Is she all right?" Grace asked. Her voice was back to semi-normal.

"Just tired," said Calla as she grabbed her suitcase.

I was dropped to the ground.

"Do you know that you're evil?" I asked.

Calla burst into menacing laughter.

"You frighten me." I stood up and took my bag.

The Pierce house looked the same as it had fifteen years ago. Incredibly huge, on the water, with a big porch and a swing.

"Hawkie, I'm so sorry about your dad," Grace said. She grabbed Hawkeye's arm. "I think he really liked me. He was waiting for us to get married. I think that when you went to South Carolina to visit your girlfriend his heart just...gave out." She sighed. "But I don't blame you, of course."

Hawkeye eyed her suspiciously.

Inside the house, it was bustling with activity. A fourth of Crabapple Cove's population was crammed into the kitchen, living room, and dining room.

"Dr. Pierce!" crowed an elderly woman. "What would you like done with the tableclothes?"

"Just leave them," said Hawkeye.

"But Doctor, you're a single man and--oh my, who is THIS?" The woman's attention turned to me.

"Jaclyn Waters," I said. "This is my daughter, Calla."

The woman raised an eyebrow. "Are you related to Daniel?"

"I was," I said.

"Then why-"

Calla shoved a stack of pillowcases off the table. "Oh, my! I'm so sorry, let me help you get those."

As they collected the pillowcases, I motioned for Hawkeye to join me in the hallway.

"Look, we have to have an excuse why I'm here," I said. "They won't believe that I'm just a friend--even though I am."

"Look, if they don't have enough decency to keep their traps shut, I'll personally sic Grace on them," Hawkeye said. "She's staying here tonight."

"Here?" I put my hands on my hips. "Why?"

"Because she's Grace."

I sighed. "Can I go put my stuff upstairs?" I asked.

"Yeah. There are a bunch of empty bedrooms," answered Hawkeye.

Calla and I moved through the sea of old women and went up the steps. Upstairs, a blond woman was standing with her back facing us, looking at a photo album.

"Big house," Calla said. "Can't you just picture a bunch of kids running through here, coloring on the walls and screaming bloody murder?"

"You still could," I pointed out.

At that point, the woman turned around. "Jaclyn?" she asked.

My jaw dropped. "Margaret?" I said, just above a whisper.

We both screamed in unison and hugged.

"Okay, I guess you two know each other," Calla said.

"Jaclyn," Margaret said. She shook her head. "Why are you here?"

"I was going to ask you the same thing."

"Some woman named Grace Belkin called me," Margaret said. "She said she was going through Hawkeye's phone book and found my number. I just got here yesterday. Now. What about you?"

"Hawkeye came to Stockton," I said. "We met in Sioux Falls at a medical conference, and I wanted him to meet Calla. But--but nothing happened. Nothing at all."

"Jac, I'm not your mother." Margaret grinned.

"Speaking of CALLA..." prompted my daughter.

"This is my daughter, Calla Selena Waters. Does that meet with your approval, my darling child?"

"Yes, thank you."

"You look so much like your father," said Margaret.

"This is so weird," Calla said. "All of a sudden I have a _father. _Before I was just the daughter of a single parent, that all the old ladies had to fuss over and treat as though I was going to become pregnant before I was sixteen." She took in a deep breath. "Okay, that took a lot of air."

"Yes, Mrs. Johnson," Hawkeye called as he came up the steps. "I woudl like to keep thosepictures. Your parents only get married once, you know."

As he turned the corner and faced us, he dropped the boxes he had been carrying. "Margaret?"

"Oh, Hawkeye."

They embraced, and I felt the tiniest flicker of jealousy in my stomach.

Just the tiniest, though.


	15. Funeral Homes, Boxes, and Grace

_Waters' Funeral Home--Find Eternal Rest With Us._

"Don't you think this is a bad omen?" Calla asked as we drove into the funeral home's parking lot.

"This whole THING is a bad omen," I replied.

"An omen?" Grace asked. "Oops. How does this thing shift again?"

"Radar O'Reilly could drive better than this," Margaret muttered to me.

"The fish in our pond could drive better than this," Hawkeye said. "Uh, Grace, it doesn't shift gears. This is an automatic," he called.

We, needless to say, were not in Grace's pickup. Instead, we took Hawkeye's dad's old car. Calla was in the front seat, only becasue she, Margaret, and I had drawn straws to see who would get that experience.

As the car lurched to a stop, Calla flung the door open and leaped out of the vehicle. "I am riding in the back next time," she told Hawkeye. "Or strap me to the roof. ANYWHERE but up there."

Grace sexily swung one leg out of the car, and then the other. She sexily stood up, and not-so-sexily fell flat on her face.

"How old is she again?" Margaret asked me.

"Twenty-nine," I said.

"How do you know?"

"Calla was snooping in her purse last night."

"Hawkie, this is so sad," said Grace. "Do you think I look somber enough?" She adjusted her black silk shirt that had the top four buttons left undone.

"Oh, definitely," Hawkeye said sarcastically. "Add a leather miniskirt and you'll be ready for Las Vegas."

"Hawkie, baby, you're such a flirt."

"I'm going to be sick," Margaret told me.

The inside of the funeral home was decorated in maplewood, with large burgundy chairs. A woman with straight blonde hair was sitting by a man in a brown suit.

"Hello," the woman said. "I'm Melinda Carmichael, and I'll be your funeral director. This is my assistant, Bob Nixser."

Mr. Nixser nodded. "Let me extend my sympathies to you in this time ofsorrow." He shook hands with Hawkeye and Grace, whom he probably assumed was Hawk's wife becauseshe was hanging all over him.

"Thank you." Grace let out a loud (obviously fake) sob. "It was just...so quick. No one expected it."

"Will someone get her off of me?" Hawkeye pleaded.

Margaret took ahold of Grace. "Do you need sedation?"

Grace glared at Margaret. "Let me go," she ordered.

"If you'll stop sticking to him like lint."

"Mr. Pierce," Ms. Carmichaelsaid. "Your father left some instructions on how he wanted his funeral to be carried out, but there was no mention of flowers or a coffin. Perhaps you have some ideas?"

"What sort of coffins do you have?" Hawkeye sat down next to Ms. Carmichael, who handed him a brochure.

"This model is very popular," she said, pointing one out on the page. "We have it in either oak or silver, and as you can see, it has a tree imprinted on the top."

As the two continued to talk, I sat down and looked at a booklet called _Grieving for a Lost Spouse. _Grace was absently flipping through a _Time _magazine, pausing atthe few clothing ads. Calla and Margaret werelookingat books with famous paintings in them.

"Do you think Da Vinci ever painted anything normal?" Calla asked.

"Not likely." I turned a page.

"Would you like to see our flower selection?" Ms. Carmichael asked.

"Yeah, sure." Hawkeye stood up and followed her out of the room, with Mr. Nixser running after them.

Grace looked from Calla to me, and back again. "You aren't going to turn into Russians again, are you?"

**XXX**

"No, Grace," Hawkeye said. "We're fine...yes, the stove works...yes...no, there hasn't any trouble with the guests...right. Yeah."

He hung up the phone. "She leaves for twenty minutes to get groceries and calls me before she goes into the store!"

"Benny, what are you going to do with these?" A plump brown-haired woman held up a box of medical books.

"I'll keep them, Agnes," Hawkeye said, sitting down at the kitchen table.

"Why is Grace staying here?" demanded Calla.

"She thinks I need moral support," answered Hawkeye. "I swear, she's stuck to me every second! I was surprised she didn't drag me along to the grocery store."

"You'd be too big to fit in the child's seat," Margaret pointed out. She took a drink of coffee. "Have you been up in your father's room yet to clean?"

"No one has. I specifically instructed everyone not to even go near that room."

"I wouldn't let anyone in the house," Calla said. "People rooting around through your stuff? Creepy. Mom, don't let anyone do that in our house."

There was a crash, and a group of women collectively shrieked. We leaped up and ran into the hallway.

"Mildred, how many times have I told you not to stack the boxes up so high?" cried a white-haired woman who looked like she would tip over if you breathed on her.

"I'm sorry," a woman with a brown braid meekly apologized. "Can I help you with anything else?"

"Yes--LEAVE."

"I didn't mean to!"

"You also didn't mean to put the tabasco sauce in Diana's wedding cake," Hawkeye interjected. "Why don't you go outside and sweep the porch?"

"I just did that."

"Some dirt blew on it."

Mildred left, and I shook my head.

Small towns don't vary that much, no matter which region you're in.


	16. Engaged?

I set my alarm for six A.M. on the morning of Daniel's funeral. I figured it would give me enough time to start some breakfast and wake Calla up (for the first of five times that would occur this morning).

"Mother." Calla burst into my room. "Get Grace Belkin OUT of the kitchen. Right now."

I pulled my white turtleneck over my head. "She's in the kitchen?"

"Yes. Get her out."

"I'll be right there."

I took the stairs two at a time, imagining the Pierce house going up in flames.

Grace was standing over the stove, wearing jeans and a clingy green collared shirt. "Good morning, darling," she chirped without looking up. "Would you like some coffee?"

"Yeah, I'm dying for a cup," I said dryly.

"Oh, it's you." Grace dropped the spoon into the gloppy mixture she was stirring. "Look, Jazlyn-"

"Jaclyn," I corrected.

"Whatever." She smoothed back her hair. "I want you to stay away from Hawkeye."

"Why?" I asked. "You're not married."

"We're close enough." Grace held out her left hand. On it was a slim silver ring, easy enough to be missed when viewed from a distance.

It felt like a rock had landed in my throat. "You're...you're engaged?"

"We're being married on the thirtieth," said Grace proudly.

I strode casually to the front door and walked out to the dock.

Only then would I allow myself to cry.

About five minutes later, I heard footsteps on the dock.

"Mom? What's wrong?"

I blinked. "Calla..." I paused. _After all, Hawkeye and I aren't married anymore. It's like we never were married. Just let it go. _"Ah, nothing. Funerals just mess me up, that's all."

"Oh." She sat down. "Does it have anything to do with that ring on Grace's finger?"

"You saw?"

"She was waving it in my face this morning," Calla said. "I think she's PO'ed that you're getting...father person's attention."

"Well, she'll be having him ALL to herself in a few weeks," I told her.

"Are you going to be all right?" Calla asked. "I have to go get changed, but I don't want you to drown yourself in the lake or anything."

"And have strange people rooting through my stuff?" I said. "Hardly."

**XXX**

"You know, Grace, this breakfast isn't bad," Margaret said in awe as she took a bite of the oatmeal.

"That's because I helped her with most of it," Hawkeye muttered under his breath.

"Thank you, Maggie." Grace smiled brightly, and Margaret winced. "What about you, Hawkie? Do you like it?"

Hawkeye said something indecipherable, because his mouth was full of bacon.

"I'm gonna go upstairs and get changed," I said, pushing my chair back and going into the hallway.

_Why? _I thought. _Hawkeye seems like he can't stand Grace. "Schoolgirl crush," he said. And so, of course, they get engaged. _

There were footsteps behind me, and I turned around, expecting to see Calla.

No one was there.

"Odd," I said aloud.

I continued up until I got to my room. The window was open, which I _knew _I hadn't done.

_Calla,_ I thought, shaking my head. Once, on April Fool's Day, she made me believe that our house was haunted. (I think the white sheet flying into the shower was a bit too much, but that's just me.)

While mentally scolding my daughter, I got dressed in my black sheath dress. As I zipped it up the back, I caught a glimpse of myself in the mirror.

A white figure was floating behind me.

I screamed and whirled around.

Once again, no one.

Now, I don't believe in ghosts, but this was getting pretty creepy. I pulled on my black high heels and quickly walked downstairs. Thankfully, nothing grabbed my arm or yelled "Boo".

"Jaclyn?" Hawkeye asked. "Can I talk to you for a second?"

"Yeah," I said.

He led us into the study and shut the door.

"Am I in trouble?" I asked sarcastically.

"Is there something wrong?" Hawkeye asked. "You hardly said two words at breakfast."

"I was just figuring out how to congratulate you."

"On what?"

"Your engagement to Little Miss Schoolgirl Crushout there."

Hawkeye burst out laughing.

"How can you think this is funny?" I cried.

"Jaclyn." Hawkeye grabbed the desk for support. "I--I am not...I'm not engaged...to Grace!"

"You're...you're not?" I asked. "But she said that-"

I began to laugh.

"If you think I would even WANT to marry her..."

The door opened, and Calla came in.

"What's going on in here?" she asked. "Obviously you aren't too broken up over the engagement to Grace."

Believe me, I wasn't.


	17. From Grace to Charles

"I hate ties."

"Maybe if you wouldn't have waited to put it on until you were in the car, you would like them more." I took ahold of Hawkeye's black tie and tightened it. Just as I did, Grace hit a pothole and the tie tightened...a little bit too much.

"Are you trying to kill me?" Hawkeye demanded. "Calla, what do you know about ties?"

"I know Jeremy looks good in one," she sighed dreamily.

"Thanks, that helps a lot."

Margaret grabbed Hawkeye's tie and adjusted it. "There."

"Where's the church again?" Grace asked.

"You see that white building up there with the steeple?" Hawkeye said.

"Yeah..."

"Wow," said Calla. She peered out the window. "Everyone must have shown up today."

"Well, Dad's seen almost all of the population naked," Hawkeye pointed out. "I remember, when I was little, that Mom always used to get upset when he performed checkups on Nita Carlson and I wanted to watch. Now, believe me, I've seen Nita Carlson in her underwear and it's not that great."

I put my hand on Hawkeye's arm. "It'll be all right," I said softly.

He leaned his head against the window. "I hope so."

Grace hit the car against the curb. "Everybody out!" she chirped.

"The Grace Belkin system of braking," muttered Calla as she stepped out of the car into a mud puddle. "Great. These were new shoes." She adjusted her dark green tennis dress. "Do you think I can go barefoot?"

"Oh, Dr. Pierce!"

Hawkeye turned around. Ms. Charmichael from the funeral home was trotting over to him, with Mr. Nixser in hot pursuit.

"How are you?" asked Ms. Charmichael. "That's a stupid question, actually. I know how I felt when I lost my father a few years ago. It was absolutely horrible."

"Yeah." Hawkeye nodded, and cringed as Grace latched onto him.

A large woman who looked to be in her sixties came over to me. "Are you a relative?"

"Uh...well..." I stammered. "In a way..."

"Good. We're having the reading of the will in five minutes."

The woman waddled back into the church.

"Hawkeye," I said, going over to him. "Some woman just told me to meet in the basement in five minutes for the reading of the will.

"Was this woman much bigger than a breadbox, in a brown housedress with a lace collar?" Hawkeye asked.

"How'd you know?"

"Adeline Washington." Hawkeye rolled his eyes. "Let's go." He motioned for Calla, Margaret, and me to follow him. Grace came along anyway.

The church was small, with a staircase going down to the basement. The inside was almost half full, and the funeral wasn't set to start for forty minutes.

Downstairs, there were about two dozen people. A group of small children had formed by a teenage girl, who looked as if she'd rather die than be anywhere near them.

"All right, if everyone is present, we'll begin the reading," said a man in a gray suit. "I'm Arnold Hensler, executive of Daniel's estate. Let me first extend my sympathies to you all."

"I'm going to keep a running total of how many times someone extends their sympathies to us," Calla muttered.

"Dr. Pierce," Mr. Hensler began, "your father has left you his entire estate, along with 50,000 dollars. To Janice Winston, Daniel's sister--"

"She's gotta be old," Calla whispered.

"You are set to inherit 10,000 dollars and the buggy in the shed."

"Oh, my," said a woman with pure white hair. "He knew I always loved that." She dabbed her eyes with a handkerchief.

"I have a great-aunt?" Calla asked, twisting around. "No way."

Mr. Hensler went on, naming off a lot of relatives on both sides of the family. Calla kept turning around, trying to see all of her relatives.

"Before we conclude, there is one other inheritance I would like to announce." Mr. Hensler cleared his throat. "It goes to Calla Waters."

There was a murmur throughout the room. Apparently, some of them must have known about Daniel's granddaughter.

" 'To Calla Waters, my granddaughter,' " read Mr. Hensler. " 'Though I have never met you, I have a good idea of how you might act. If you're anything like my son was...I shudder to think. To you and your father I leave the Pierce family scrapbooks. Know I am watching you--so BEHAVE.' "

That caused some chuckles. Calla turned beet red.

"And now, I'll turn it over to Pastor Breeca," Mr. Hensler said. "Pastor?"

The pastor, a short, skinny man, stood up. "I extend my sorrows to you-"

"Two," Calla murmured.

"-and wish you the love and sincere caring of our Lord, Jesus Christ. Now, if you'll line up with Ben leading, Calla will follow."

Pastor Breeca continued listing, and I walked up the steps. It would make me look awfully stupid, standing down there when I didn't have a drop of Pierce blood in me. (Of course, that didn't bother Grace. She was pouting at the back of the line.)

Margaret followed me. "If I hear one more word out of Grace..."

"We'll make her eat her own breakfast," I finished.

"Margaret! Jaclyn!" a familiar voice called.

We turned around.

"B.J.!" Margaret cried.

She and I ran over to our former MASH member and hugged him.

"You haven't changed a bit," he told me, and I laughed. "What, you don't believe me?"

"I'd like to," I answered.

It was then I noticed a blond woman and two children behind him.

"Oh, Peg, this is Margaret Houlihan, and Jaclyn Waters," B.J. said.

"Pleased to see you again. We met at the reunion, didn't we?" asked Margaret as she shook Peg's hand.

Peg thought for a moment. "Yes, we did. You were fighting with a man with no lips."

"Frank." Margaret sighed.

"And, Jaclyn, you weren't at the reunion, were you?" Peg said.

I shook my head. "I've heard so much about you, though."

"All of it good, darling," B.J. put it.

"We'd better move into the church," Margaret said. "They were lining up to enter with the casket."

As we all found pews, I was introduced to Erin, who looked remarkably like Peg, and Jacob, who was seven.

"Please stand," the pastor instructed, and we did.

"Amazing Grace" started, and Hawkeye came in. Calla followed behind him. She looked surprisingly somber.

"Jaclyn, call me crazy, but look at the man in front of us and tell me he doesn't look like Charles," Margaret whispered.

I looked and found she was right.

"It can't be," I whispered back.

The man turned around. "Excuse me, but--Margaret?"

"Charles!" Margaret cried, and quickly lowered her voice. "Why are you here?"

"A woman with a horrible accent called," he whispered, turning to face us. Noticing me, he asked, "Do I know you?"

"Jaclyn Waters," I told him. "Remember, the Captain who married Hawkeye?"

"I had been wondering whatever happened to you two," said Charles. "Have you taken up residence in the Midwest?"

"You don't know?" I asked in amazement.

"Know what?"

"Charles, we got divorced less than a month after the war ended," I said.

"Really." He snorted back a laugh. "I knew it wouldn't last. You and Pierce were-"

Charles cut off as he realized the entire congregation was staring at him.

"Sit DOWN." The woman standing beside him yanked the Major into a sitting position. "Sorry about him," she said to the general church.

I heard Hawkeye chuckling as the minister said, with a suspicious look at Charles, "You may take your seats."

Leave it to Charles to put his foot in his mouth at a funeral.


	18. Late Night Swimming

"Seventy-eight!" Calla reported later that day. "People apologized to me seventy-eight times."

We were back at the Pierce house, along with Grace (we never leave without her, no matter how hard we've tried), Margaret, Charles, Charles's wife Katherine, B.J., Peg, Erin, Jacob, Rose (who had been left with the Hunnicutts' babysitter, Emily, at their hotel), and--surprise--the Klingers! They had arrived just as the last ding of the church bell was played, because of some bad weather over Delaware.

"I counted one hundred twenty-two," said Hawkeye.

"WHY would you count?" Margaret asked.

They shrugged.

"Hawkie," began Grace, "why didn't I get anything in the will?"

"Because you've been nothing but an annoyance since you first showed up here!" Hawkeye exploded. "You've been hanging on me like a leech and I can't even go to the bathroom without you waiting outside the door!"

Grace crossed her arms. "Sor-reeeeeeeee."

"She waited for you while you were in the bathroom?" Nancy (who was four) screeched, and broke into giggles.

"Yes, sweetie, and we call that 'perversion'," Hawkeye said to her. "Can you say that? 'Perversion'."

"Perservion," Nancy repeated sweetly.

"Good job."

**XXX **

It was about ten o'clock when I walked outside to get some fresh air. Hawkeye was sitting on the dock, drinking something out of a bottle.

"You all right?" I asked.

"Have you ever noticed ripples? How they just...they never end."

Not the response that I had been expecting, but knowing Hawkeye, it had some sort of psychological meaning.

I sat down next to him. "I'm sorry."

"One-twenty-three." He took a sip out of the bottle, and offered it to me. "Want some?"

"Sure." I took it and lifted it to my lips. "This didn't come out of the still, did it?"

"That thing is in Boston...if Charles didn't throw it away."

"Charles took the still?" I asked, amazed.

"We gave it to him as a...hic...goodbye gift." Hawkeye grinned.

"And he accepted it?"

Raising his eyebrows, Hawkeye said, "It was given by an anonymous doner."

I burst out laughing as I took a drink out of the bottle.

"Shh, shh, don't tell him."

I swallowed. "This isn't bad."

Hawkeye took back the bottle. "I just got a wonderful idea."

"What?" I asked.

"Let's go swimming."

"Now?" I said. "Hawkeye, you're crazy."

He stood up. "Ladies first."

"You are not going to get me into that frigid water." I crossed my arms.

Taking that statement as a dare, Hawkeye grabbed me in his arms and leaped into the water. We both screamed.

"This is not a heated swimming pool!" I shouted, trying to tread water. "I'm going to get pnemonia and...and..."

Just to shut me up, Hawkeye kissed me.

_A/N: My computer has been really stupid lately, so I hope that this actually POSTS...and fan fiction .net comes up on the screen! _


	19. Mrs Pierce

The next morning, I woke up with a horrible hangover. Whatever I had been drinking last night must have been...

_Last night._

I remembered nothing. Just that Hawkeye had thrown me into the freezing water and he'd kissed me. After that we'd had more wine and--that was it. I was drawing a blank.

Someone stirred next to me, and I shot to my feet.

The bedroom I was sleeping in was, to say the least, NOT the one I had slept in for the past few nights.

"Hawkeye." I poked the sleeping form. "Hawkeye. HAWKEYE! WAKE UP!"

He opened an eye. "Grace," said Hawkeye sleepily, "if you don't get out of here..."

"It's not Grace," I said through gritted teeth. "It's me, Jaclyn."

Hawkeye sat up. "Why are you in here?"

"What happened last night?" I asked.

"You fell asleep up here," answered Hawkeye. "I thought you would have woken up before now."

"What time is it?" I grabbed the alarm clock. "Eleven A.M.? This can't be right."

It was.

"Well." Hawkeye chuckled. "I believe we've given them so interesting breakfast conversation."

"Interesting my foot! Our daughter is down there! Do you know what she's thinking?"

"If I do, she has a very sick mind."

I flung open the door and took the stairs two at a time.

Downstairs, Grace was pacing the length of the entryway, Margaret was reading the paper, and Calla was eating a jelly doughnut.

"Where's Hawkeye?" Grace asked me.

"In his room," I answered, brushing past her.

"Morning, Mom," said Calla. She looked at me for quite a long time. "Have a nice night?"

"Perfectly freezing," I responded. "Pass the the doughnuts, please."

I was met with suspicious looks from all three of them.

**XXX**

Later that day, I heard a loud thump from the study.

"What happened?" I asked.

Hawkeye was sitting at his father's desk, looking stunned. He'd dropped a box of papers on the floor, and now the floor was (excuse the bad pun) papered.

"Read this." He thrust a wad of paper at me.

I took it. " 'Dear Daniel, There was an error on these forms; please give them to Hawkeye and/or Jaclyn and have them fill them out again. Nathan'," I read, and flipped a page. "These are our divorce papers."

"Keep reading."

On the next page, 'VOID' was stamped across the top in big red letters. "Void?" I repeated. "How is it void?" I frantically turned pages until I got to the last one.

On the page I had filled out, 'Mother's Maiden Name' was circled.

"Because of Swensen," I began, "we have been married for SIXTEEN YEARS."

"You're still married?" Calla cried. She ran into the room.

I tossed the papers at her.

As she read, her smile grew. "Yes!"

Hawkeye stood up. "So, Mrs. Pierce-"

"I'm not Mrs. Pierce," I said, "and-"

But I stopped.

"I guess I am."

**XXX**

"It's obvious that you should redo these papers," said Grace later that day.

"Do you really care or do you just want to have him all to yourself?" Calla asked as she painted her thumbnail bright red with some nailpolish she'd stolen (or "borrowed") from Michelle.

"I onlywant what's best for you," Grace told Hawkeye. She took the papers. "Oh, this should be easy to fix."

I gritted my teeth. "Grace, there's something thatyou left outside. Go and get it."

"What was it?" askedGrace.

"You'll know when you find it."

I didn't expect it to work, but it did.

As the door slammed, I grabbed the key and locked it.

"That should keep her out for a while," I said, returning to the table.

**XXX**

That night, I was in my OWN room. Hawkeye had called Nathan Forrester, the attorney who had handled the divorce, and had arranged a meeting for the next day.

The only thing I didn't understand was why Daniel had kept the papers, without even letting Hawkeye know. It was as if he had WANTED us to stay married.

"_Daniel's always been a hopeless romantic_."

I jumped. The voice seemed to come from the strange white mist that was floating beside my bed.

Wait a minute.

FLOATING BESIDE MY BED?

I was out of there faster than you could say "haunted house."


	20. International Spy Calla Waters Pierce

_A/N: This switches into Calla's POV, just because I wanted to see how her narration would go. At the start of this story, I originally wanted to do all Calla, but then switched back into Jaclyn because I love her character! _

_Dear Juliana, _

_This is international spy Calla Waters, reporting to you from the exotic locale Crabapple Cove, Maine. _

_Ha._

_Actually, Crabapple Cove isn't that bad. Lots of old people. But anyway, that's not the real reason I'm writing to you._

_You know how my mom married some guy during the Korean War, and then got divorced? Well, it turns out that they're STILL MARRIED. My grandfather on my father's side had the papers and didn't give them to my parents. _

_I guess I'm now Calla Pierce._

_Honestly, this is all so weird. I don't know if Mom will get divorced again! She acts like she still wants to be married to Hawkeye/Dad/Father/whatever. (Yes, his name is actually Hawkeye. Remember, from "Last of the Mohicans"? I knew there was a reason I liked that book!) _

_I don't know what to do. For so many years I've wanted a dad. Do you remember in second grade when I pretended he was invisible and came with me to school? (Yeah, I was SUCH a weird kid.) _

_The funny thing is, I can't call him Dad. You know how that feels, I guess, with your mother getting married/engaged to men you hardly know. _

_Today the parents(that's what I'm calling them now, since "Mom & Dad" seems too awkward) are going to a lawyer to see if they can figure out what's going on._

_Later reports will ensue. _

_--Calla _

**XXX**

"I'm sorry, but those are the rules. We have a one-month waiting period before divorces are finalized."

My jaw dropped open and I almost fell through the door. (Well, not THROUGH the door, but you get my drift.)

"Why?" Mom asked.

"We had a slight problem with a couple a year back," said the balding, overweight man that had a Hershey's barsticking out fromunderneath a file folder, where he had tried to "hide" it as the parents came in.

"The Georges?" groaned my father. "Great. Because of two old geezers that are in love and out of love every damn hour, we have to wait for a month!"

I sunk down to the waiting room floor and pressed my ear against the door.

"There are alsoweekly mandatory counseling sessions you have to go to," continued the man. "You know Liza Borsi, Dr. Pierce?"

"All too well," was the reply.

"So that means," Mom began, "that I have to stay here for a month?"

"And any children you have will have to go to the sessions also," said Mr. Whatever His Name Was.

"NO WAY!" I shouted, and clapped my hand over my mouth.

At about that point, Margaret looked up from her magazine. "Calla, what are you doing over there?"

"Examining the wall," I said dryly. "Come on, Hot Lips, you'd be over here too if you didn't think you had to set an example."

"How did you know your father called my Hot Lips?" Margaret demanded.

I paused. "Good question."

It really was. "Hot Lips" had just popped out, with no advance warning.

"My mom probably told me," I said, trying to shake thecreepy feeling I was getting.

Margaret shook her head. "No, they'd about quit calling me that when your mother came." A smile came onto her face. "Maybe you'remore like your fatherthanany of us know."

I stood up and sat down on a chair. "This is so stupid. Why do we have to go to counseling? I don't NEED counseling! Do I look like I need counseling?"

Margaret raised her eyebrow, and I held up my hand. "Never mind."

The door to the office banged open, and the parents stalked out, leaving Mr. Hollister to eat his candy bar in peace.

"Ican't wait until that jerk comes in for a checkup," Hawkeye said. "What do you think, emergency appendectomy or tonsils?"

"Go for tonsils," I advised. "It's much more painful. At least it is when Dr. Richardson--who can hardly hold a scalpel, mind you--does it. But that's just the Milbrook Hospital."

Mom shook her head with an amused look. "Counseling. Who does he think we are, mentally disturbed lovers?"

"What else did he say?" I asked.

"You should know," Hawkeye said.

I put my hand to my chest. "You think _I _would listen in on a private conversation?"

"No, I know you would."

"How?"

"Because I did the same thing when I was your age."

Grace groaned from the corner. "Can we go yet?"

_A/N: So, what do you think? Should I go back to Jaclyn, stay with Calla for awhile, or alternate for chapters?_


	21. Sessions

"So when did this problem first begin?"

"Two days ago."

Dr. Borsi sighed and gave Hawkeye an annoyed look. "Your MARITAL problem."

"What problem?" asked Hawkeye innocently. "We've been married for sixteen years."

The dark haired woman adjusted her pink and white sundress. "Dr. Pierce."

"Dr. Borsi. Well, I guess we know each other's names now, I'm going to go get some coffee." Hawkeye stood up, but I pulled him back to a sitting position.

Tapping her pink fingernails on the desk, Dr. Borsi narrowed her eyes. "Pierce, you've been a pain ever since you were born."

"You're certainly old enough to remember that," Hawkeye said.

Dr. Borsi raised an eyebrow. "I'm beginning to see what happened." She wrote something on her legal pad. "You had eyes for a girl with a fantastic figure who walked into your MASH unit. A one night stand, she's pregnant, and she forces you to get married to her. When you get home, she gets a speedy divorce because she's found somone better."

"Anything else, Perry Mason?" Calla asked coldly, rising.

"Look, DOCTOR--and I use that term loosely--I didn't ask for this game of psychiatry twenty questions. The only reason I'm here is because the town of Crabapple Cove won't let me sign the papers that I wanted to fifteen years ago!"

He stood up. "Good day, Dr. Borsi."

As he left the room, he grabbed me by the waist, Calla being already out the door.

"Oh yeah," added Hawkeye, poking his head back in the room. "If I ever get within reach of you with a sharp object, you'd better watch it."

"Hawkeye," I began as we walked out into the bright sunshine.

"Yes?" he asked.

"You were..." I trailed off.

"Rude? Callous? Uncouth? Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you. I accept cash and personal checks."

"No." I shook my head. "You know, sometimes I wonder why I wanted a divorce."

"I wonder why you did too. Look at this body."

I rolled my eyes. "Modesty's your best quality, Hawk."

Calla and Margaret were staring at us, wide-eyed.

"What?" I asked.

"If I didn't know better, I'd swear that you were married," said Margaret. "I mean, MARRIED married."

"We might be if we don't complete these sessions," I told her.

"You can go back if you want," Hawkeye said. "I don't give a damn if she does have a degree, I'm not going back into that office."

"Neither am I," Calla put in firmly.

"Well, I can't very well do marriage counseling by myself," I said. "Let's go; we'll figure out what we'll do at home."

**XXX**

_Dear Elliot,_

_Two weeks (to the day) that Daniel died. It feels like forever since I first met Hawkeye in Sioux Falls. I don't mind it in Maine. Crabapple Cove's almost like Stockton (except the nearest body of water we have is the lake)._

_How're Mom and Dad doing? They called_

There was a bang on the door to my room and I jumped. "What?"

"It's your husband."

I pulled on my cream-colored robe and opened the door. "This is so old-fashioned. The married couple doesn't even sleep inthe same room."

"We could change that, you know." Hawkeye stepped into the room and shut the door. "We need to talk."

"_Just _talk?" I asked suspiciously.

"I swear on my Hawaiian shirt."

I gave him a small smile. "All right, sit down."

We both did--me on the bed, him on the desk chair.

Before he could open his mouth, the lock on the door clicked, and Hawkeye and I looked at each other in surprise.

"Margaret left this morning," I began slowly.

"Calla's snoring her head off," continued Hawkeye.

"And if Grace has any sanity left in her she wouldn't lock us in a room together," I said.

I got up and tried to pull open the door.

It wouldn't budge.

Usually I don't go for the supernatural when something out of the ordinary happens, but with the things that had gone on in the past two weeks, I broke out into a cold sweat.

"It's locked!" Hawkeye hit the door.

"Has this happened before?" I wondered.

Hawkeye shook his head. "For now" (a mischevious grin spread over his face) "let's make the best of it."

And suddenly, I didn't _want _to resist.

So I didn't.

_A/N: It had to happen! Will Hawk and Jaclyn stay together, or will they go seperate ways? (Dun dun dunnnn...)_


	22. Invitation Not Nessecary

"Oh, _my_."

"Don't see that every morning, do you?"

"Elliot, this is nothing to joke about. Obviously she's been drugged."

"Yeah right, Grandma."

"What will I ever do if the ladies at Tabor find out? They'll never let me in a Ladies' Aid meeting again."

I opened my eyes slowly. Light was pouring in through the window, meaning it was much later than I usually slept.

"We should call the police."

Someone stirred slightly beside me, and I remembered what had happened last night. A smile played across my lips as I tried to place the voices that were coming from my doorway.

It hit me.

Somehow my family had found its way to Crabapple Cove.

_Calla, get them out of here, _I begged silently. _Please. For five minutes. _

"Breakfast!" Grace called from downstairs.

_Thank you, Grace. _I almost took back all the unflattering things I'd thought about her.

Calla shut the door, and I shook Hawkeye's shoulders. "Get up get up get up."

"Unless the world is ending, I'm not moving."

"IT IS!" I hissed. "My parents are here."

"In Maine?"

"IN THIS HOUSE!"

Hawkeye sat up. "Who invited them?"

"They invited themselves." I rummaged through the closet for something to throw on. Finding a gray skirt and white blouse, I turned to Hawkeye. "Get dressed."

He stood up and pulled on his robe. "See you in five minutes."

After he left, I dressed and pulled my hair back with a black ribbon. Stumbling into my shoes, I took the stairs two at a time.

Downstairs, Calla, Elliot, and Michelle were eating waffles, Grace was looking like the perfect American housewife in a red and white gingham apron, and Dad was standing next toMother, looking like they were on their way to a funeral.

"Good morning," I chirped.

"Morning, Mrs. Pierce," said Elliot.

Mother spit out the coffee she was drinking. "Excuse me?" shecoughed.

"MRS.?" Dad repeated, turning pale.

"Ohhh, why did you have to say that?" Grace sniffed.

"What'd I do?" my brother asked, visibly confused.

"Elliot, I haven't told anyone but you," I said through gritted teeth.

"Whoops," Elliot said, looking around the kitchen.

Hawkeye came downstairs at that moment, and Mother's eyes widened.

"How DARE you?" she cried. "You take my daughter and--and RAVAGE her! I have a cousin who works with the police! You'll be thrown in jail so fast your head will spin!"

"I think you should explain, Mr. Pierce," Dad said, grabbing Mother before she could attack Hawkeye.

"Dr. Pierce," Hawkeye corrected. "Look, let's all sit down and discuss this calmly. No strangling allowed."

"All right, _Dr. _Pierce, what happened?" asked Dad.

We explained, answering numerous questions from my parents along the way.Finally,Mother asked, "So what were you doing in the same bed last night?"

"Shall we give a demonstration?" Hawkeyeasked me.

"Do youknow do you're revolting?" I said.

"I think I'm going to be revolting these waffles in a few minutes. What'd you put in these, Grace, cyanide?"

Mother tsk-tsked at Hawkeye.

Hawkeye tsk-tsked at Mother.

I groaned.

_A/N: I haven't replied to any reviews lately, so I promise--this chapter (and hopefully on up), all reviews will be replied to! _


	23. A Call, A Ring, A Conclusion

_A/N: I don't own the lyrics to "Only Time." (I don't own anything. It's not fair!)_

From the first time I saw the Pierce house, I wondered why Daniel and Hawkeye had continued to live there, even when Calla (the mother, not my daughter) died. There were seven bedrooms, four bathrooms (Hawkeye said that Daniel had installed them in 1960), three fireplaces, and the parlor was big enough to fit the entire upstairs of our house in Stockton.

So far, the Waterses (and two that were part Pierce) had taken over four bedrooms.

"I'm sorry," I whispered to Hawkeye. "If I would have known they were coming I would have suggested they stay in a hotel. No. I would have _ordered _they stay in a hotel."

"This is the most people our house has had staying in it since the Pierce reunion in '62," said Hawkeye. "Besides, if we need more room, we can always double up in beds."

"Wouldn't Grace love that?"

"I know I would."

"Jaclyn, come up and help your father with the baggage!" Mother shouted.

"Coming," I hollered back. "It's not even been an hour and she's already giving me orders."

I was upstairs when the phone rang. Figuring it was for Hawkeye, I asked Mother, "What possessed you to come here?"

"Didn't you miss us?" Mother said.

"Yes, I did, but aren't you always preaching to us not to come uninvited?"

Indignant, Mother pursed her lips. Before she could say aynthing, Hawkeye shouted, "Jac, come down here!"

Glad for the interruption, I went downstairs. "What?"

He beckoned for me to listen in on the conversation. I put my ear to the phone.

"...upstanding citizen in the community, I believe that we can ignore the counseling sessions," a man was saying. I recognized him as James Kildow from Daniel's funeral.

"So we can just sign the papers?" Hawkeye asked. "No Dr. Freud?"

"None. Can you be here in half an hour?"

I nodded.

"Sure. See you then," said Hawkeye.

He hung up. "Well?"

"I'll go tell my family," I said, walking up the stairs. I felt like I was in slow motion.

_This is what you wanted, _I told myself.

Somehow, that sounded like what I had told myself fifteen years ago.

**XXX**

Exactly half an hour later, we arrived at the attorney's office.

"We'll wait out here," Michelle said, sitting down on a leather couch.

Calla, unusually somber, asked, "And what's going to happen to me?"

"Jaclyn, may we, uh, speak outside?" Hawkeye asked.

"I think we'd better."

We walked into the drizzle and I pulled my navy coat tighter around me. For spring, it was awfully cold.

"I have a question for you," said Hawkeye.

"Shoot," I said.

"Will you re-marry me?"

My jaw dropped. "Are--are you serious?"

"I must be, I brought the ring." Hawkeye extended the blue engagement ring that I hadn't seen for over a decade. "Don't sign the papers."

It was like a dream. I felt tears come to my eyes as I said, "Kildow's going to have to find someone else to use his forms."

"He can give them to his wife." He paused. "Come on, the ring's getting wet."

I laughed. "Of course I'll re-marry you!"

"That's--that's--" Hawkeye sputtered, and kissed me.

It had to be a dream, I decided.

As we drew apart, he slipped the ring onto my finger.

"We'd better go back inside," I said. "Calla's going to go insane when she finds out."

"Hopefully in a good way. After you, Mrs. Pierce."

I walked into the room. Calla was sitting on the floor, reading _Newsweek. _Elliot and Michelle were on the leather loveseat, and my parents were sitting across from them in matching chairs. (Grace had been purposely "forgotten".)

"Let's go," Hawkeye said.

"But you have to sign the papers," said Mother . "Don't you?"

"Sorry, Mother," I said. "I guess...you still have a son-in-law."

Calla was the first one to react. She dropped the magazine and stood up. "You're staying married?"

"Once I gave her the ring, she just latched onto it," commented Hawkeye. "I couldn't get it back if I wanted to."

Calla flung her arms around Hawkeye's neck. "I knew it. I knew you'd propose."

This wasn't a dream.

**XXX**

That night as I was getting out of the shower, I stopped dead in my tracks.

On the mirror, written in the steam, was:

_Name your second child Daniel. _

**Fin**

_A/N: They were begging for a happy ending!_

_Thank you all for sticking with this, even with all the short chapters and twists. I think I'll be going through some withdrawl, because this has been a part of my (fan fiction) life since last year, when I wrote the original version on my typewriter. (The ending for that is VERY different. This just kind of took off on its own._

_The title for this is taken from an Enya song, "Only Time." There are some lyrics that kind of struck a chord with me for this story:_

_Who can say where the road goes,  
Where the day flows?  
Only time. _

Who can say when the roads meet,  
That love might be,  
In your heart.

And who can say when the day sleeps,  
If the night keeps all your heart?  
Night keeps all your heart.

_Thanks again for all your support!_

(c) 2006 by Christine Ruud


	24. Epilogue, Stockton Notes StyleOnly Time

_A/N: Instead of writing a big epilogue for this, I decided to let the Stockton Notes do it. (The Notes, incidentally, are based on a column in our local paper. I know, I know, pointless trivia.) Since some of this is incredibly stupid, let's just imagine that my hands are being taken over by the hands of a fifty-year-old woman that thrives on gossip. _

_(By the way, Crabapple Cove's variations are NOT mine.) _

**June 3, 1968 **

The Waterses arrived home from Greenapple Cove on the twenty-eighth, with the absence of their daughter, Jaclyn, and granddaughter Calla. Apparently she has decided to stay in Maine to work out some of her affairs. We miss her and wish her the best.

**June 10, 1968**

Julia and Walter Waters wish to announce the marriage of their daughter, Jaclyn Marie Waters, to Benjamin Franklin Pierce. The wedding took place in Maine on May 26th. No news on where the couple is going to live.

**June 24, 1968**

Jaclyn Waters-Pierce has put our old home, 13 North Maine, on the market with Aesoph Realty. Anyone wishing to buy it should give Alvin or me a call in Milbrook and we'll give you all the details.

**August 1, 1968**

Elliot and Michelle Waters recently purchased 13 North Main and moved into it last Saturday. May your house always be filled with love and family.

**December 30, 1968**

Ben, Jaclyn, and Calla Pierce visited Julie, Walter, Michelle, and Elliot Waters for Christmas. Jaclyn announced that's she's expecting a baby! The citizens of Stockton wish them the best back in Apple Cove.

**February 2, 1969**

We extend our sorrows to the Waterses in their time of despair. Walter was a pillar in our community and will be greatly missed.

**February 9, 1969 **

Well, Jaclyn Pierce has certainly given us something to smile about! She went into labor on the morning of Walter Waters's funeral and delivered a healthy, eight pound baby boy named Daniel Walter Pierce at the Milbrook Hospital.

**May 29, 1971**

Calla Pierce, granddaughter of Julie and the late Walter Waters, graduated from Lobster Cove High on the twenty-fifth. Her Stockton family attended the ceremony and returned to South Dakota on the twenty-seventh. Calla's future plans are going to college at Northern State University here in South Dakota and getting a degree in early elementary education.

**January 13, 1973**

Daniel Pierce, grandson of Julia Waters, had his tonsils removed last Thursday. Grandma Julie hopes you feel better real soon so she can come and visit you!

**March 5, 1974**

Ben Pierce, husband of Jaclyn Waters-Pierce, went into the hospital on April thirtieth for knee surgery. Calla Pierce was not able to be there. He is recuperating well.

**May 17, 1975**

Calla Pierce graduated from Northern State in Aberdeen on May eleventh. Her family stayed at the Motor Inn from the tenth to the twelfth. Calla is planning to go into a teaching career.

**December 2, 1976**

Julia Waters threw a marvelous Thanksgiving feast for her relatives, including Harry and Martha Waters, Mark and Ella Waters and their children Carol Black (husband Pete and son Pete Jr.), Jack, and Joann Woods (husband Rob and children Eliza, Lucy, Leonard, and Stanley), Jaclyn and Ben Pierce and their son Daniel, and Calla Pierce and her fiancee Paul Jackson.

**October 31, 1977**

No spooks were out for Calla Pierce and Paul Jackson on their wedding day! They were married on October twenty-ninth at Tabor Church in Blick and are honeymooning in Canada. (Brrr!) Calla's attendants were Mary Berkin (maid of honor), Faith Montgomery, Joann Waters, Carol Waters, Patricia Jackson, and Betty Pierce. The groomsmen were Jim Jackson (best man), Chuck Harrison, Jack Waters, Randy Smith, Michael Berg, and Kevin Kane. Lucy Woods was the flower girl, and Daniel Pierce was the ring bearer. Calla's dress was a family heirloom, worn by her mother, grandmother, and great-aunt.

**September 28, 1979**

Everyone in Stockton is still in shock because of Julia Waters's passing last Monday. Heart attacks happen so quickly, we never even got a chance to say goodbye. I, for one, will miss her coffee cake served at all of Tabor's potlucks. Funeral services will be held on Friday.

**November 3, 1979**

Ben, Jaclyn, and Daniel Pierce were guests at the Elliot Waters home in Stockton for Julia Waters's funeral.

**July 31, 1981**

Calla Jackson gave birth to a five pound baby girl named Gweneth Pamela on July twenty-eighth. Elliot and Michelle Waters are planning to visit her soon in Nova Scotia.

**August 9, 1983**

While visiting family in Maine, Calla Jackson gave birth to her second child, a boy named Bradley Clark. There was quite a team of experienced doctors, as the MASH 4077th was having a thirty-year reunion.Calla's husband got quite a surprise when she phoned!

**May 28, 1986**

Daniel Pierce graduated from Crabapple Cove High on the twenty-sixth as valedictorian. Daniel's future plans are medical school in New York.His Aunt Michelle and Uncle Elliot were unable to attend but send their congratulations.

**June 11, 1987**

Michelle Waters passed away last week due to hepatitis. Her funeral will be held Sunday at Elim Covenant Church here in Stockton.

**June 17, 1987**

Jaclyn Pierce attended the memorial service for Michelle Waters.

**May 19, 1990**

Daniel Pierce, son of Jaclyn and Ben Pierce of Crabapple Cove, Maine, graduated from his college in New York. He is now going on to medical school in Boston.

**December 20, 1991**

Benjamin Pierce, wife of Jaclyn (Waters) Pierce, went into the hospital in Iltai, Maine, on Wednesday for a heart bypass surgery.

**December 26, 1991**

Jaclyn Pierce's husband Benjamin passed on due to heart bypass surgery complications. Elliot Waters, Calla Jackson, and Daniel Pierce are in Maine. Funeral services pending.

**January 3, 1992**

Funeral services were held Monday for Benjamin Pierce. No word on if Jaclyn is planning on coming back to Stockton.

**March 12, 1992**

Jaclyn Waters-Pierce came to Stockton to visit her brother, Elliot. She was seen reading the real estate section in the Wilkton News.

**May 25, 1992**

Calla and Paul Jackson and their children Gwen and Bradley visited Elliot Waters in Stockton from May eighteenth to the twenty-second. They ate lunch at the cafe and attended Sunday morning services at Tabor.

**June 9, 1992**

Jaclyn Waters-Pierce has moved back into her childhood home in Stockton! Anyone wishing to visit her should drop in. After all, we certainly know where she lives!

**June 17, 1992**

Calla Jackson visited her mother in Stockton on the tenth. They didn't exit the house but were spotted drinking coffee in the kitchen. Jaclyn looked very upset. Calla left on the fifteenth.

**July 10, 1992**

Daniel Pierce came to Stockton to visit Elliot Waters and Jaclyn Waters-Pierce. He brought with him his girlfriend, Joliet McCarthy, who lives in Boston.

**May 18, 1994**

Jaclyn Waters-Pierce and Elliot Waters attended Daniel Pierce's graduation in Boston. He has earned an internship at Boston General. I had a cousin who had her appendix taken out there, I remember, in 1961. Wonderful doctors, good healthcare--we approve of your choice, Daniel.

**April 29, 1995**

Elliot Waters passed away Sunday at his home in Stockton. The service is this Thursday at Tabor Lutheran in Blick. Calla Jackson and Daniel Pierce are houseguests of Jaclyn Waters-Pierce.

**May 31, 1995**

Jaclyn Waters moved out of 12 North Main on the twenty-fourth. I fondly remember when all the Waterses were together in that big house that now sits empty on the corner. When family goes seperate ways, everything just falls apart.

**February 6, 2005 **

A piece of out-of-state news for you: Jaclyn Waters-Pierce, daughter of the late Julia and Walter Waters, passed away on January twenty-fifth in Nova Scotia, visiting her daughter Calla. Her funeral service was held in Craybable Cove, Maine.

_(c) Christine Ruud_


End file.
